A Sign of the (Passing) Time

Dashman & Gboo at the Arboretum

Mom & the A#1 snuggler

Greta's 1st attempt to put jammies on solo. Don't tell her she forgot to take off her day-wear.

Dressed to impress w/ the A-K girlies

Wes doing his thing!

Has it really been 6 weeks since Wes joined our family? Was Greta that sick just 4 months ago? Was it really 8 years ago today that this odyssey began? Tyler & I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary last night with a yummy sushi dinner out (thanks Aunt Jayne & co=babysitters extraordinaire!) and we talked alot about time and how recent/far away some of these events feel. It is odd...I feel like Tyler & I have always been together, like I can hardly remember what life was like before he shmoozed his way into my world (with a taco dinner... story for another time). I feel the same way about Wes' and Greta's births...who was I before they rocked my world and I became their mama. I don't have clear memories about life without them. I still feel like those weeks in Jan & Feb when we worried we might know this feeling much too well were like yesterday. Strange how fluid time can be.

May has zipped by so quickly and yet the days are not chalked full of activities...but man are they FULL. Full in the rich, wonderful sense of the word. We've been hangin' around the house, which is not to say that we haven't been busy! We've entertained some of Gboo's friends in our basement h(e)aven (newly minted big sisters like Greta!), but we managed to get out today & play with our buddy Dash at the arboretum too. Wes has been a trooper (so mellow...that makes 1 so far for our family of 4!) and slept through most of the commotion that follows wherever big sister goes. We're getting the hang of getting the 4 of us out the door on time (or within 5 min). We're hoping Wes stretches out his nights & sleeps in his crib all by himself SOON! He's a serious snugglebunny-not something I want to discourage, but would like to channel into awake time not bedtime! But he's eating great and growing rapidly. Oh viking baby...don't grow up too fast please! Our other big news: I am braving the sky with both of our munchkins this weekend so we can go see Granny & Gramps in AL. We are excited about seeing so many of the folks that prayerfully supported us over the last 4 months. Greta is pretty pumped about playing with cousin Evelyn too! So Florence peeps: consider yourselves warned...the Christiansens are coming, the Christiansens are coming!

We'll update post Bamalama time, so I hope these pictures will hold you over until then!

Brotherly-sisterly love....

I promise I'll update soon with a newsier posting this weekend...but until then, let me offer you a few pics of "Big Sissa" and "Baby Wes" lovin' each other. Seriously, a little sibling love affair is beginning to develop between Greta & Wes. Wes has been enthralled with Gboo from the start and now Greta is beginning to show real interest and care for Wes. Can't lie to you, it makes my heart skip a beat to witness! Greta asked to hold Wes yesterday while Daddy read stories to both of them. And then today as I changed baby Wes' clothes Greta decided to surround Wes with her "amimal friends" to cheer him up (he does not dig wardrobe changes). This led to a little pep talk and conversation between big sister and little brother that was too cute not to capture on film. Love from the sleepy Christiansens!

Happy May!

Well, yes we're still behind the times and tardy posting pictures. Highlights from the last week and a half:

Greta decided to hold Wes

Everyone else wants to hold Wes

Wes is holding up his head...doggone Viking baby

Wes continues to be infatuated with his sister, Greta continues to tolerate her brother

Wes wants to eat all the time

Wes wants to sleep much of the time....on you

Granny abandoned us and now we're going it alone (just kidding Gwanny)

Tyler went back to work [read: and left me all alone with these 2 kidlets]

All in all we're sleepy but happy and doing well! Here are the pics to prove it!

The Deal Breaker

Hey y'all, Preacher here.

So it seems like I was all big talk last week when I promised to stay on top of this blog. A funny thing has happened. I'm feeling older with this baby, and I'm not the one who has done most of the work thus far (birthing, nursing, etc.). But really, I'm tired. It could be, I suppose, G's illness or Lent/Easter, or maybe the basement project that we're still putting the finishing touches on - but whatever the case, I'm pretty pooped. Anyway, that's a lame excuse. Everyone knows that you're supposed to be tired when you have a baby. The blog must go on.

Things have been going really well since the last update. Wes has had his first well baby visit and he's doing just great. For several days he barely opened his eyes, but now he has them opened a bit and he's doing a great job tracking us, especially G. When he hears her voice, he practically flips over to see her. It's pretty cute. He's also doing a great job eating. He's hungry, which, I suppose is to be expected from a 9+ pound viking baby. At this rate, he has a few more days left in his 0-3 month clothes.

At first glance he looks a bit like G did as a baby. Then, when one looks closer, one can see a few of my traits in him like a wide nose, big feet and darker skin (than Eleanor). He also, unfortunately, has his daddy's hair. This is very much on my mind today since I had a haircut earlier this afternoon. In fact, my barber, who I really like, I'll call him 'A' to protect his identity (just in case) engaged me in this very topic. Our topic went something like this:

A: So, did your baby get your hair?

T: My hair? I dunno yet, he doesn't have enough to tell.

A: Well, you can see cowlicks right away. A baby doesn't need to have hardly any hair to see that.

T: Yes, Eleanor has said that she thinks I cursed him with my cowlicks [yes, I do have a couple of poorly placed cowlicks that don't offer a lot of options for hair styles].

A: Mmhmm.

(a few seconds of silence)

On the subject of reproduction, I used to breed dogs. And when you breed dogs, you take your dog and look all over the country for another dog to breed with - a dog that will have traits that you would like to see in a pup. But when you straight folks get together, you don't think about these things.

T: Hmmm, so what are you saying?

A: That I wouldn't breed with you.

T: (laughing uncontrollably) Oh really? Ouch. Well, I guess that's okay since anyone who wouldn't date me over a cowlick wouldn't be worth dating.

A: Well.

T: Really though? A cowlick could be a deal breaker?

A: Yep. I've turned down guys for less than that.

T: Wow. I bet you're special on a first date. What, like you say, let me see your hair?

A: Pretty much.

So, that's it. Just for that little comment, as soon as Wes is old enough, I'm taking him to A to get his hair cut so A has to deal with our cowlicks for years to come!

I've attached a few new pics, although true to being a second child, there aren't nearly as many as there were for G. There are definitely some pics that look a lot like G too. See for yourself by looking back at postings from January of '07.

Thanks for reading.

-TC

We'd like you to meet Wesley Tyler!

Wes was born today- Tax Day- at 12:30 pm. SURPRISE! Our little sneaky guy weighed in at 9 lbs 4 ozs, 21 inches long with a 14 inch noggin. We are all doing well...just sleepy. So we'll keep it short tonight and just show you a few pictures. Here ya go!

The Preacher's Daughter (and son)

Hey Guys (or Y'all for those of you down south), it's the preacher here. I've been away from blogging for at least a year now. Sorry. I didn't mean to drop off the blogosphere, I just got busy. But, seeing as I'm sitting next to Eleanor in a hospital birthing room, it looks like I'm on paternity leave for a little while and I'll have time to post some stories, thoughts and (hopefully) clever comments. That, (cleverness) is something that this young son of mine will have to start learning early. It's a point of pride for the Christiansens that we are all clever. Now, this is not, mind you, corniness. No, our brand of cleverness is generally in the form of very dry humor that has a lot to do with timing. Sadly, this does not easily come across in blogging, but we'll give it a shot.

Speaking of things that a young male Christiansen must learn . . .

He must also learn to appreciate his mixed, but largely Scandinavian heritage. This includes eating 'skivers (see blog entry from January 2007), lefse and pretending to enjoy pickled herring on holidays (there, I said it. I only pretend to like it). If you are from the land of y'all-ers, lefse is a wonderful Scandi treat. Eleanor disagrees, but she'll learn to appreciate it one of these days, much like Minnesota weather.

Lastly, the young lad will have to, like his father, and his father's father, and his father's father's father, cheer for sports teams that will tease you and leave you devastated (see '91 and '97 Gopher Men's basketball, two plus generations of Gopher football, the '00 and '10 Vikings, the Twins 2003-present. Sorry little buddy, but that's just the way it is.

Anyway, back to the hospital.

So, at E's doctor appointment this (Wed) afternoon, the doc said that it was time to induce. We were set for an appointment at 6am Friday. We thought that sounded good. It gave us a bit of time to finish preparing and two more good nights of sleep. And then, as if proving to us that he's already controlling our lives, E's water broke just after midnight. So, we got up, called the doctor on call and phoned grandma (my mom), who came over immediately to stay with Gboo for the night. Ellie and I jumped in the car. Wait, no, we actually took a long time to leave the house. I mean, for having our bags packed already, we still needed to gather a bunch of stuff together. Not only that, but when we packed a week or two ago, we packed winter clothes, but we had to repack tonight because it's pretty warm out. It's 65 out and it's the middle of the night. And humid here too. You 'Bama folks would feel right at home. Now that I mention it, Granny and Gramps, you should probably make your way up here now. Time for a stroll . . .

We just got back from a walk. The nurse suggested that we take a stroll around the floor so we did. The only problem is that the floor is really pretty small, especially when you are walking for walking's sake. The highlight of the walk was the dozen or so times we paced by the nursery. Looking in at those babies is really quite the reality check. We were reminded that our lives are about to get rocked once again.

Okay, I'm getting pretty tired now. It's 4:04 CST and I'm actually struggling to type. So, I'm hanging it up. Next posting should include pictures, or at least his name!

-The Preacher

Easter fun

We had a lovely, but busy Easter celebration this last week. An event at church every day. Baby measuring huge (8lbs 4oz LAST Monday) and *hopefully* coming soon. Getting the house re-settled now that the basement is DONE and putting baby ____'s room together. Family time. Shew...we were busy...and cubby hung in there through 12 on Sunday so we are now cheering him on to make an appearance at ANYTIME. We are thankful that so many things have come together this spring just at the right time, so we won't complain. But we have been busy!

We took some pictures at our Easter dinner with Grandma Marmo yesterday (actually Aunt Kebbie took all the pictures....they are gorgeous. Her husband calls her the paparazzi, but we definitely benefit from her talent!) and we thought we should share. Greta is doing great as you can see in these pictures. It frees us up to really begin concentrating on the new joy that will SOON be entering our life (are you listening baby? SOON). Hope you enjoy some of our footage.

Much love and we hope you had a really happy Easter celebration,

E, T, & G